At this time of year, the buzz of nature shifts and wildlife transforms as the seasons change. There is always more to see if we take a moment to look.
I am delighted to be celebrating the World Heritage Site status of The Flow Country, recently approved by UNESCO. After years of planning and collaboration, this remarkable landscape, home to RSPB Scotland Forsinard Flows, now has additional recognition that will benefit nature and people.
Across Scotland, people want action for nature. We were alarmed by Scottish Government’s decision to redirect nature restoration funding given to local councils which is essential in supporting communities to tackle the nature crisis. Together with the voices of our partners and supporters we’re asking for funding to protect and restore nature to be prioritised.
While we advocate for a better future for nature, we are delivering exciting work across Scotland. In the Inner Forth, we are working with communities to build resilience to the climate crisis (p2) and, for the first time since 2007, Little Terns have bred on the north-west of Lewis, where our work is reducing the threats they face (p3). Thank you for making these achievements possible with your support. Read on to discover more.
Anne McCall Director, RSPB Scotland
Action for nature
Our places
Future-proofing the Forth
We’re celebrating one year of our Climate FORTH project, which has been working to future-proof the Inner Forth and connect local people to the landscape.
The team has been talking to communities in Raploch and Grangemouth about making their greenspaces more functional and resilient to the climate crisis. This includes adding wetlands to alleviate flooding, woodlands to mitigate air pollution and treeshaded seating for increasingly hot days.
In Valleyfield Woodland Park, in Fife, work has started to make the Gardener’s Cottage an enjoyable destination. Workshops in Fife, Falkirk, Clackmannanshire and Stirling invited people to tell us which natural, historical and cultural places matter most to them and to vote on how funding should be used to protect and improve these.
Climate FORTH includes a new online training platform to help young people understand the challenges facing the Inner Forth, and family sessions to help form a connection to the area from a young age.
cycle route has beautiful signage, route cards and promotional videos to entice twowheeled explorers!
Alongside, the exciting new Inner Forth Bike Bus can carry up to 12 bikes, trikes and other cycles, enabling cyclists and walkers to travel between Alloa and the Forth Bridges for free. More is in the pipeline for Climate FORTH, including a virtual reality tool to visually demonstrate landscape change and a young leaders programme. Stay up to date here: innerforthlandscape.co.uk
Follow Anne on @stranyannie
The team worked with Sustrans Scotland to rebrand part of the National Cycle Network 76. The new ‘Round the Inner Forth’
Climate FORTH is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, with additional funding from the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund, the Crown Estate, IFF members and Sustrans Scotland’s Network Engagement Programme.
Cover: Corncrake by David Dinsley. This page: Inner Forth Futures
Above: Kinneil Foreshore Below: Opening the ‘Round the Inner Forth’ cycle route
Species
Celebrating Little Tern arrival
We had some amazing news this spring, as a pair of Little Terns bred on the north-west of Lewis for the first time since 2007! The pair, along with 68 other Little Tern pairs in the Outer Hebrides benefited from the Terning the Tide project, coordinated by Species on the Edge.
Species
Harnessing people power for nature
Nature is for everyone and, thanks to funding raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, we are launching a two-year initiative to help more people get outdoors and enjoy our natural world.
People in the heart of Glasgow will be among communities benefiting from a £1 million award as we build
People Power for Nature. This supports our ongoing project, Giving Nature a Home in Glasgow, helping more people experience the benefits of nature.
Saving the Wildcat in Scotland
Wildcats are on the brink of extinction in Britain. With too few wild-living Wildcats to sustain the population, urgent action is needed for one of Scotland’s most threatened mammals.
Last year, the Saving Wildcats partnership began releases of this iconic species in the Cairngorms Connect landscape, where RSPB Scotland and neighbouring land managers are delivering our ambitious 200-year vision to enhance nature and wildlife. The released individuals have been making their home there, while being carefully monitored and
tracked with the use of GPS-radio collars and camera traps.
In a significant milestone, this summer it was confirmed that Wildcat kittens have been born in the wild in the Cairngorms National Park. There is still a long journey ahead for Wildcats in Scotland, but these births and the continued releases by Saving Wildcats signal hope for the ‘Highland Tiger’. As a Cairngorms Connect partner, RSPB Scotland will continue to support this innovative work to recover an iconic Scottish species.
Find out more
Discover more about Saving Wildcats: savingwildcats.org.uk
Above left: A planting workshop by bike
Above right: Claypits bird watching Far left: Female Wildcat with kittens
Left: The female Wildcat before the kittens were born
Species
Parenting skills on show
Unprecedented behaviour seen on the Isle of Mull has amazed experts. After their chick injured its left wing in July 2023, a White-tailed Eagle pair have continued to care for the injured offspring into its second year of life,
even skipping breeding this year to focus on tending to the youngster.
Dave Sexton, RSPB Mull Officer, said of the development: “I loved Whitetailed Eagles before. Now I think I love them just a little bit more”.
Species ID guide: geese
This is a magical time in Scotland, with leaves changing colour, mountaintops getting a dusting of snow and migratory birds adding to the sights and sounds of the country. Several species of geese arrive over autumn and winter, and the new visitors can be tricky to tell apart. Use this guide to get to know some lookalike species you might see this season.
White-fronted Goose
They have grey and brown bodies with black bars on their bellies, orange bills, pink legs and a distinctive white patch at the front of their heads.
Pink-footed Goose
Our places Visit Lochwinnoch
Immerse yourself in wildlife throughout the year at RSPB Scotland Lochwinnoch nature reserve, just a short train journey from central Glasgow. Thanks to dedicated volunteers, we have three bird hides, and a kind donation of a telescope from the Renfrewshire Local Group allows visitors to see even more. When you visit this season look for Redwings and Fieldfares, arriving winter ducks and geese, and rare migrating wading birds – who knows what will turn up? See if you can spot the plaques celebrating the volunteer builders of our two most recent hides. Find out more: rspb.org.uk/lochwinnoch
Find out more
Above: White-tailed Eagle parent and chick
Above roundel: Whitetailed Eagle chick with a wonky wing
Left: The nature reserve and visitor centre
Below (top): The plaque and telescope
Below (bottom): Fieldfare
Our people
Delicate looking, with small pink beaks and dark head and neck feathers. Their legs and feet are pink. They make a gentle ‘wink wink’ call as they fly overhead in large groups.
Greylag Goose
These are in Scotland all year. The largest of the three, they have stocky bodies, mostly grey feathers, an orange beak and pinky-orange legs. Their call sounds like honking.
Saving lives and nature
Scotland’s first solarand wind-powered defibrillator has been installed at our Baron’s Haugh nature reserve in memory of former warden Stephen Owen and Karen Galloway, a loyal supporter of the site, who both died from cardiac arrest.
Thanks to St John Scotland, Turtle Engineering and WelMedical for funding this innovative and potentially lifesaving project. Scan the code to find out more.
Andy Hay, Chris Gomersall, Sam Turley, Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com); Ashley James, Martin
Keivers, RSPB Scotland, Robert Conn
See seasonal spectacles at RSPB Mersehead
RSPB Mersehead is perhaps best known as a winter stronghold for Barnacle Geese and you’ll be hard pushed not to spot them as soon as you arrive.
There can be up to 10,000 of the geese here over the winter months, enjoying a well-earned rest after their epic flight from Svalbard, in the Arctic. As Mersehead is also a working farm, we seed different fields each year on a rotational basis, so the geese might not be found in the same place where you remember them being last year, but they’re never likely to be far away.
A highlight during other seasons of the year is the Natterjack Toad, and a stroll down to their preferred field really highlights the variety of habitats at this nature reserve: hides looking over the wetlands, meadows that, come spring, will be bursting with wildflowers, and the wide, sandy beach with breathtaking views over the Solway Firth.
What’s more, many of the trails are on flat, gentle surfaces that are wheelchair- and pram-friendly. And, if you want to explore further, pop into the visitor centre to borrow our special all-terrain beach buggy. We also have a small café where you can warm up
Colin is the Site Manager at RSPB Mersehead. He has been here for 13 years and with the RSPB for 27 years.
Seasonal highlights
It’s hard to predict when you might be lucky enough to see a Starling murmuration, but the sight of their mesmerising dance is a breathtaking experience at this time of year Another autumn h hl h h influx of wintering waterfowl, including the Barnacle Geese, which travel here all the way from Svalbard in their thousands. rspb.org.uk/mersehead
with a hot drink and enjoy watching the bird feeders – Yellowhammers and Tree Sparrows are among the regular visitors.
Mersehead is one of the southernmost RSPB Scotland nature reserves, and it’s well worth the journey, wherever you’re coming from.
What’s your a top tip for visitors?
Dress for the weather! Also, expect the unexpected. You may come looking to spot one particular species, but more often than not there are surprises round every corner. Just recently we’ve had some Marsh Harriers move in, so there’s always something new to see.
Counting Corncrake
ITara Proud, Project Manager of Corncrake Calling, reflects on the four-year project as it nears its end, celebrating the successes and looking ahead towards its lasting legacy
t’s midnight in June. Above me the stars stretch across the sky and there is a peachy glow over the sea; in midsummer when you are this far north (51° latitude) the sun barely dips below the horizon before it’s rising again. Peering into the dark, I can just make out the silhouette of an old stone wall, with long grass and tall Yellow Flag Irises. And the air is filled with one of the most bizarre bird calls: ‘crex-crex, crexcrex, crex-crex’. This sound is the reason I am here.
Using a compass, I take a bearing and plot a line on my map, to work out where the bird I can hear is calling from. This is how we go about surveying Corncrakes, and counts are happening across many of the islands where they are found over the same period. In 2023, we counted 870 calling males. This marked the first rise in numbers in Scotland in five years and a step closer to the high of 1,282 calling males counted in 2014.
Corncrakes were once widespread across Scotland – in 1856, Henry Cockburn, a lawyer, judge and literary figure, wrote a diary entry about hearing them call in central Edinburgh! Since then, populations have fallen dramatically as farming and agricultural production have intensified. Corncrakes are now found only on some Scottish islands and parts of the north-west coast.
The conservation status of the Corncrake remains precarious, and the future of this species depends upon nature-friendly land management. This is why RSPB Scotland started the Corncrake Calling project in 2020, supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, to help save these iconic birds.
The project, which ends in November this year, has been essential for helping Corncrake and other wildlife, while bolstering the unique culture of rural Scottish communities.
Driving Corncrake Calling is longstanding work to increase the amount of land being managed in a way that is positive for wildlife. The project works closely with farmers, crofters and land managers, providing advisory support to grow the area of land being made Corncrake-friendly. Even though the birds are only here as summer migrants, it’s a year-round commitment.
Corncrake-friendly farming
On Donald Macsween’s croft in the Isle of Lewis, NoFence collars are used with cattle to help wildlife. Fences to keep cattle in are expensive, meaning some land is not utilised and there is less habitat for wildlife. Using these collars means previously unmanaged land is now being grazed. In Donald’s eyes it’s a win-win: working with nature can help pay the bills and, as a by-product, his cattle are creating better habitats for species like Corncrake.
Our advocacy work shapes the policies that ensure funding is available for land managers like Donald to
Concrake cam
Get a glimpse of a Corncrake survey:
Scan me
David Dinsley, Laura Elliot, RSPB Scotland
‘Encouraging better support for farmers and crofters is crucial for this species’
support the Corncrake and secure those benefits. Encouraging better support for farmers and crofters who farm in a nature- and climate-friendly way is crucial to ensuring a future for this species.
Looking beyond the end of Corncrake Calling, we are working in partnership to develop a longer-term action plan to co-ordinate future conservation efforts. RSPB Scotland will give Corncrakes a home on the land we own and manage, while we continue to advise and support others about government grants for managing their land. Finally, the legacy of the project will allow us to continue engaging with communities about the vital role of farmers and crofters.
While Corncrake Calling reaches an end soon, it will have lasting impacts for these enigmatic birds.
Helping communities to help nature
Here are some other ways we’re helping communities reconnect with nature –essential for lasting conservation and a crucial tool for Corncrake Calling:
Dundee
Dundee Science Centre was one of 13 venues across Scotland which hosted our touring exhibition, Operation: Broken Feather. To help tackle the disconnect between the city’s residents and nature, the project collaborated with RSPB Scotland’s Dundee-based project Wild Dundee, and funded transport from schools to the venue, where they explored the Corncrake’s decline, conservation efforts and local wildlife stories.
Western Isles
This year four Corncrake and machair festivals have been delivered across the Western Isles. The festivals saw children from five schools in Lewis, Benbecula and Barra learn more about the elusive Corncrake.
Argyll Islands and the Hebrides
The fun and informative Corncrake Calling Challenge digital board game was masterminded by primary school pupils in the Argyll Islands and the Inner and Outer Hebrides. The brilliant team at Focus Games Ltd helped bring the children’s ideas to life.
Find out more
Scan the code to watch a video and discover how we’re engaging local communities:
photos
Many thanks to everyone who has shared their nature photos with us – we love to see them! To get in touch please contact the editor, Allie McGregor, at Allie.McGregor @rspb.org.uk
